


Alphabet boy

by orphan_account



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst, Crying, Fluff, M/M, Non-Sexual Age Play
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:27:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22357906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: *As of 04/18/20 this story is on Hiatus until further notice*All Mark really wants to do is relax, especially with the stressful life he leads, but he finds his method of de-stressing weird and unconventional. He can't help but feel like his members would find it weird too, so he keeps it a secret for as long as he can.He's able to do so for a really long time, but of course when they become a group of 21 members his world comes crushing down on him.But will they still accept and love him?(This is mainly NCT127, sorry but I don't think I can incorporate the other groups into this without it feeling like a mess:/)
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun, Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Moon Taeil/Nakamoto Yuta, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 65
Kudos: 201





	1. Build me up like building blocks

**Author's Note:**

> Yes the title was inspired by Melanie Martinez' Alphabet Boy, it was the only title that felt right for this work.

* * *

Mark liked working with music, even more so because he got to do it with his friends. 

In the beginning when he first debuted in NCT U he didn't get to work with any of his friends his age, like Donghyuk or Jaemin or Jeno, and next thing he knew he was put into 127 and Donghyuk was with him, which made him feel a lot better. He loved his hyungs, but nothing could beat having a friend near his age.

So when NCT Dream was established and he was made the leader he became even happier. Yeah, he had to make sure none of them did anything stupid that would get them hurt, in trouble, or dead, but it was nice. 

And then things got harder.

Honestly, how could things _not_ get harder for him? Depending on the member line up for NCT U, he was technically in three different groups.

Rightfully he started to get stressed, but he never let it show. Every member in NCT was stressed with their own problems and worries, and it wasn't like he was the only member to be in multiple groups, right? Donghyuk was in 127 and Dream, Taeyong and Jaehyun were in U and 127, and when Johnny and Doyoung were put into 127, Doyoung became another member that was in two groups.

So he didn't want to bother his hyungs with his worries. If they could put up with being in multiple groups, being in one comeback after another with barely any time to rest, then so could he.

Except he was still a kid, one going through puberty at that and sometimes he just _couldn_ ' _t_ get a hold of his emotions. Put stress on top of that and sometimes he was a ticking time bomb, just waiting for someone to mess up one little thing and he'd snap.

Whether he'd snap in anger or sadness was always a gamble for him. More often than not it was usually in frustration, but sometimes when he'd snap he'd be overcome with a wave of sadness. When that would happen he'd shove his members away to get a moment to breathe.

That's all he wanted at times, to take a deep breath away from all the members because sometimes being with them felt like they were taking away all the air from him, waiting for the walls he so carefully made to one day just crumble in front of them and then they'd see he was incapable of working.

And then they would throw him away. What would they get from someone who couldn't keep himself together?

So having time just for himself, to just cry and let himself crumble into a sobbing mess, helped him stay together in some odd way. It was by no means a healthy habit, but it's what kept him from doing anything drastic to himself or to anyone else.

But then there was one day where he had been in the bathroom and taking a shower when he had started to cry, the frustration of an upcoming comeback a few days away making him feel like he was going to break apart. He hiccuped, because he was in desperate need of some air in his lungs, when a knock interrupted him.

"You okay in there Mark?" Came the worried voice of Johnny. Mark took as many shallow breaths as he could in hopes of making his voice sound normal before he answered.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Don't worry hyung." Mark answered. He hoped he sounded put together enough that Johnny would go away and let him be.

"Alright. Good night." Johnny said. Mark sighed, saying his own good night before turning the shower off and going to get dressed. Only thing was that the tears kept streaming out of his eyes.

Fearing that he would make another noise he shoved his pointer and middle finger into his mouth to muffle any more noises that could possibly come out.

Except something weird happened. When he had put his fingers in his mouth he felt more relaxed than he had in months.

He wished he could have stayed like that, just sucking his fingers with no one around, but he couldn't hog the bathroom. So with great determination he took his fingers out of his mouth, wiping away the saliva that covered them and quickly put some clothes on.

He would try to get some sleep, hopefully then the exhaustion he felt would go away before going on with his life.

***

Mark didn't forget how relaxed he had felt that one night in the shower, where he had sucked on his fingers like a baby, but he didn't want to do it again. 

He shouldn't have to rely on sucking his fingers to feel better, so he tried other things. He bought adult coloring books, he started gaming with some of the members, he spent more time learning songs on his guitar, he wrote more lyrics, he did anything that wasn't acting like a baby.

But once a month while he was in the shower he would suck his fingers again, his thoughts leaving his head and all those horrible emotions going down the drain. He always had to be careful, in fear of one of the members just barging in, so as soon as he got into the shower he'd start sucking his fingers. He couldn't really clean himself while sucking his fingers, but he tried his best.

There had of course been times when a member had almost walked in on him sucking his fingers in the shower, but it was easy to make it seem like he had been doing something else, like washing his hair or pretending he sneezed.

He couldn't imagine how any members would react to him acting like a baby while he was taking a shower, but he knew in his gut that it wouldn't be good.

***

One day when Mark was by himself, every member doing their own things, he let his guard down and sucked his fingers. Instantly he felt like he was laying on a cloud high up in the sky.

And he loved it.

Going to his bed he went underneath his covers and just laid there. He didn't want to do anything except suck on his fingers and go to sleep. Except his arms felt _so_ empty and it didn't seem right to go to sleep without something to cuddle. 

So he got up and walked around the 127 dorm in search of something to cuddle with. He grabbed the couch pillows, but putting them in his embrace felt wrong. Next he went into each members room, grabbing their pillows in hopes of it feeling like the perfect cuddle buddy, but none of them were any good.

He huffed in frustration, bringing his fingers into his mouth again before he dropped onto the ground in frustration. All he wanted was to have something to cuddle himself to sleep, but no! There wasn't anything in the dorm that was good enough to cuddle to sleep with.

 _Dreamies?_ He thought, his eyes landing on Donghyuk's messy bed. The Dreamies dorm should have something for him to use as a cuddle buddy. The dorm was practically overrun with stuffed animals fans got them that older members were employed by their managers to pick up any that were carelessly on the ground. 

Of course when the dreamies saw their stuffed animals being taken away they argued about the injustice, but they weren't listened to. 

Long story short the Dreamies stole back their stuffed animals from the SM basement and they never got any stuffed animals taken away again. They did have to pay for damages and apologize for scaring employees, but they got to keep their stuffed animals so they considered it a win.

Mark entered the Dreamies dorm, peering in and seeing nor hearing any members. Making quick work he held every stuffed animal that he could find before settling on larger than normal black teddy bear with a blue bow tie.

He ran back to his room, not bothering to check how much time he had left before one of the members came back. All he wanted to do was take a nap, and having this teddy bear in his embrace made him feel sleepy.

So once he got underneath his blanket, his two fingers back in his mouth and the teddy bear in his embrace he was out like a light.

***

Mark kept sucking his fingers a secret from the rest of the members. Thankfully none of them found it weird when he had kept a teddy bear on his bed, but they just thought it was because he was graduating Dream in a couple of months.

Of course his graduation from the group was rough, but he knew the boys could take care of themselves.

The following years was the same for Mark. Giving his all for what he loved, but feeling like he could break from the stress only to put himself back together whenever he was alone and could suck his fingers and hold his teddy bear, which was named Blueberry.

He's had many close calls when it came to being found out by one of his members, but thankfully they never did find him out.

Except today felt like a bad day. Like he was going to be found out. But he ignored that feeling, instead focusing on getting ready. 

Because today all the members would be officially meeting WayV.

***

Mark knew as soon as he entered the practice room that today was going to be eventful. Actually as soon as he entered the building he knew it was going to be eventful.

He noticed that barely anyone was in the building except for a few desk workers and of course all of their managers and themselves.

 _The CEO must have told everyone that we would all be meeting,_ Mark thought. He felt a shiver run down his spine as he thought of the utter chaos that would ensue when they all got together.

He could already see the gray hairs in Taeyong and Kun's hair, as well as some, if not all, of their managers resigning.

So when 127 entered the practice room, being told to sit next to the Dreamies who were already there, Mark prepared himself for the inevitable loss of his hearing.

"Okay boys, you all need to be on your best behavior, which means _no sc_ -" One of their managers started saying, but got cut off by loud yelling from outside the room. In a flash Lucas entered the room, closely followed by Yangyang, Xiaojun, Hendery, Ten, Winwin, and a very exhausted Kun.

"We're back!!" Shouted Lucas. Soon every member was up and about, talking to the three new members as well as the members who had returned.

Mark watched as Lucas approached the Dreamies, shouting 'We gotta dream man!' with a big goofy grin. Renjun and Chenle were talking to the three new members, Kun was talking to Taeyong, Ten was talking with Johnny and Jaehyun, and Sicheng was being hugged by both Taeil and Yuta before wiggling away from them and going to stand next to Mark.

"How are you?" Sicheng asked, slinging his arm around Mark's shoulder. Mark quickly glanced at Yuta and Taeil's direction to see Yuta glaring and pouting at them while the older was rubbing his shoulder. 

"I'm okay, how are you?" Mark asked.

Sicheng sighed. "Tired. Very, very tired. The flight was really long and Lucas kept talking about the Dreamies."

Mark laughed, patting the older members back. From the corner of his eye he saw Donghyuk and Yangyang walk out of the room together, a weird feeling of dread popping up in his chest. He ignored it though, not thinking much of it.

"Mark! I missed you man!" Lucas shouted, picking up his fellow '99 Liner and spinning him around. Thankfully it didn't keep going as he was put on the ground in front of Xiaojun and Hendery.

"Say hi guys!" Lucas told them. Both of the new members laughed before waving at Mark.

"I'm Kunhang, but you can call me Hendery, it's nice to meet you." Hendery said in English.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Dejun but call me Xiaojun." Xiaojun said in Korean.

Mark smiled at both of them. "It's nice to meet you both, I'm sure you already know me, but I'm Mark."

"Chenle put that down!" Kun shouted as he chased the second youngest around the practice room. Mark noticed in the mirror that he was holding a water gun, but he also noticed he wasn't the only one as Jisung popped up with his own.

"Jisung, no!" Taeyong shouted, going to grab it from the maknae only to be made to chase him like Kun was with Chenle.

"Where are the other Dreamies?" Doyoung asked, panic evident on his face and voice. 

In a matter of seconds the room was a battlefield as members grabbed one another to use as shields.

"Did you dye the water?!" Taeyong asked once he saw Ten's white shirt get covered in a stream of blue and red water.

Chenle and Jisung only laughed as they continued their rampage. 

Mark slowly walked away from the chaos and towards the door, the two youngest only set on chasing members who were putting up a fight or ones that were wearing light colored shirts/pants.

As soon as he was in front of the door he pushed it all the way open, only to be covered by an avalanche of flour. It was only a few more seconds before the remaining Dreamies plus Yangyang popped up in front of him and sprayed him with their own water guns. Some of them even sprayed him in the face.

"You look ridiculous!" Donghyuk said before laughing.

"Dude…" He heard Johnny say, smile evident in his voice even though he couldn't see him.

There was a beat of silence before he heard some members laughing or snickering at what had happened to him. He quickly turned around to look at himself in the mirror only to see his upper half covered in flour, as well as a multitude of colors covering his face or flour covered shirt. The kicker was his white pants had a yellow stain on his crotch, because _of_ _course_ someone would do that.

And just as quickly Mark was running out of the room, tears in his eyes as he felt himself break down.


	2. Bittersweet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you ever wonder why I don't tag who is a little in my stories, it's because I always upload on mobile and I can only put those tags on my stories when I'm on my computer.
> 
> Which I'm too lazy to go and do :/

Taeyong was fuming. First the two youngest decided it would be a good idea to shoot the members with colored water, which wasn't too bad since all they needed to do was catch them. But then he saw Mark get doused in flour and sprayed with colored water by the rest of the Dreamies plus Kun's own youngest member.

It was dead silent when that happened before the members started to laugh when the Canadian turned around to look at himself in a mirror.

Even from were Taeyong was hiding behind a foldable chair he could see tears gathering in Mark's eyes before he ran out of the room. 

"All of you, come in here NOW!" Taeyong shouted. Thankfully all the younger members had the decency to look remorseful as they re-entered the room.

"Put your water guns in the middle of the room, sit down and think about what you did." Taeyong told them, which they thankfully all did.

"I'll go look for Mark." Johnny said. 

"I'll go too." Jaehyun said as he stood behind the taller.

Taeyong sighed. "Take some more members with you, it's impossible to know where he hid himself away."

Johnny and Jaehyun nodded, getting Doyoung, Taeil, Yuta and Sicheng to help in their search.

***

Mark wasn't sure what to think in this moment as he cried in the corner of a storage room, pointer finger securely in his mouth as he tried to calm down. All he could think of was the laughs of his members as they saw how much of a fool he looked like.

_ They hate you. _

_ You're such a baby. _

_ You're nothing. _

_ You don't mean anything. _

_ They never liked you. _

_ Just leave already. _

That's all he could think of right now, his tears flowing down his cheeks like an endless river.

"Boo bewwy…" Mark called out around his finger. His teddy bear could make this all better, but she wasn't here right now, she was back on his bed.

Which meant he was all alone, dirty and sad with no one to cuddle him and make him feel better.

"..ark...Mark?" Someone called out. Mark stiffened, his eyes searching around the room for a place to hide before he noticed a cupboard across the room.

He quickly went to the cupboard, opening it and finding it empty. He went inside the space, closing one door and trying to close the other but he couldn't close it all the way. All he could do was leave it like that and hope no one noticed it when they entered the room.

"Mark? You here?" Johnny called out. Mark shoved his finger in his mouth again to keep from making a noise.

Staying super still and taking tiny breaths he tried to listen to what was going on in the room. He could hear two people walking around the room, one of them of course being Johnny, but because the second person hadn't said anything he didn't know who it was.

Until the doors were opened and he came face-to-face with Jaehyun and Johnny.

"Mark…" Johnny softly called out, seeing the tear stricken face of his friend as well as one of his fingers in his mouth. Jaehyun reached into the enclosed space, going to grab Mark by the armpits only to get lashed out on.

"No! Go 'way!" Mark shouted around his finger. There was a voice in the back of his head telling him to take his finger out of his mouth, to stop acting like a baby, but they had already seen him sucking on his finger like a baby, so he might as well die on this ship.

"Mark, please. Just come out of there and talk to us." Jaehyun pleaded. Mark shook his head, going to grab one of the doors to cover him, but Jaehyun blocked him from doing so. Mark let out a scream of frustration before going to hit Jaehyun's bicep.

"Meanie!" Mark shouted as he repeatedly hit Jaehyun. 

"Mark, stop that." Johnny said, making the younger pause in his actions only to get glared at and to continue his assault. Thankfully by the time he was about to get in his second punch Jaehyun grabbed his wrist, a frown on his face.

"That's not nice Mark." Jaehyun sternly said.

"Let go!" Mark shouted, trying to get his hand back but not able to from Jaehyun's secure grip.

"What's going on?" Doyoung asked as he peered into the room. All three of them looked at Doyoung like a deer in headlights before Mark started to cry again.

"Youngie." Mark called out, his free hand now making a grabbing motion towards the vocalist. 

"Mark, baby." Doyoung said, stepping into the room and walking straight to Mark. Going on instinct Doyoung squatted in front of the younger before opening his arms wide open. The simple action made the crying boy cry harder as he dove into Doyoung's arms.

"Can you guys leave? I don't think he wants you two here." Doyoung commented, hand running through Mark's flour covered hair and ending up on his shirt. He didn't mind though.

Both of the taller boys nodded before making their way out of the room. Just as Jaehyun was about to close the door Doyoung called out to him.

"Can you get Kun? Tell him to bring a water bottle with a straw, code blue." Doyoung said. He could see the confusion on the younger vocalist face, but he didn't question it, just nodded his head before shutting the door to leave.

"My sweet little boy, you're okay. I'm right here."

***

"Kun? Doyoung needs you, he's in the 3rd floor storage room with Mark. He said to bring a water bottle with a straw and that it's a code blue." Jaehyun told Kun. The look of surprise and panic was something Jaehyun wasn't expecting as he watched Kun walk away from the babies of the group.

"Yangyang I'm taking your spare sweatpants and water bottle and giving them to Mark!" Kun called out. The brunette nodded his head, not putting up a fight in having his things taken away and given to someone else.

Quickly Kun made his way out of the practice room and to the elevator, pressing the third button. He tried not to be too anxious about what he was about to come face-to-face with, but when the doors to the elevator opened he could hear soft whimpers coming from one of the rooms and he felt his heart start to race.

In a few seconds he was already in front of the storage room, pushing the door open to see Doyoung cradling and singing to a crying Mark.

"Oh, baby…" Kun called out. Mark's head snapped up from Doyoung shoulder, his eyes widening in panic before he started to cry harder.

Doyoung shushed him, rocking back and forth to calm him down.

Kun walked slowly to his two members, shutting the door behind him. Sitting on his knees he watched as Doyoung got Mark to calm down enough that all he was doing was sniffling. 

"You should drink some water Mark, you must be really thirsty from all that crying." Kun said, his thumb going to Mark's cheek and wiping away a tear.

Mark whimpered at the feeling of someone else touching him, but at the same time he leaned into the touch. Kun opened his hand, palm facing Mark's cheek to allow the younger a chance to nuzzle him further.

"Boo bewwy…" Mark choked out. Doyoung and Kun looked at each other, not sure what the boy meant.

"Where is Boo bewwy?" Doyoung asked.

"Home." Mark said. The two older vocalist nodded.

"We can go home together and get your Boo bewwy. Then you can get cleaned up and have something to eat after." Kun said, tone hopeful. Mark didn't say anything for the longest time, but finally the young rapper nodded his head. Both Doyoung and Kun sighed in relief.

"Drink some water first, then you can change your pants and we'll ask one of the managers to drive us home, okay?" Doyoung asked. 

Mark sniffled before nodding his head and getting off of Doyoung's lap. He looked at Kun before making grabby hands at the water bottle he held.

Kun gave the water bottle to the younger, watching as he drank the water greedily. His eyes glanced around the dirty rapper, noticing that his face and hair weren't as dirty as before. Looking over to Doyoung he saw that a majority of it was on his shirt instead.

That reminds him…

"Mark, can you lie down so I can change your pants? Or you can change them yourself once you're done drinking water." Kun commented, expecting the younger to choose the second option. 

Except Mark was full of surprises.

Still drinking from the water bottle he slowly laid down on his back before putting the bottle to the side and looking up at the ceiling. Doyoung smiled a little before looking at Kun.

"Just like Jisung." Doyoung commented.

"Better than acting like Chenle or Jaemin." Kun huffed out a laugh before removing the youngers shoes and pants.

"Jisung?" Mark asked. 

Doyoung looked over with a smile, about to answer him back before noticing the finger in his mouth. Grabbing Mark's wrist he took the digit out of his mouth, making him pout.

"Don't suck on your finger, it's probably really dirty." Doyoung explained. Mark just kept pouting.

"Now he's acting like…" Kun started to say, mouthing Donghyuk's name. He wasn't sure how the young rapper would react to hearing the youngers name, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Youngie." Mark whined. Doyoung chuckled.

"You're being a very good baby Mark. Now sit up, we need to change your shirt too." Doyoung said. Mark did as he was told, sitting up and letting Doyoung take of his dirty shirt and putting on a new one.

"Where did you get that?" Kun asked. Doyoung pointed to a closet on the other side of them.

"The closet only had shirts in it, so I'm really glad you brought a pair of pants for him." Doyoung said, standing up before bending down and picking up Mark.

"I can carry him if you want." Kun said, getting up from the floor too. He wasn't too sure that Doyoung could carry Mark and was afraid that he would end up getting dropped.

Doyoung was about to refuse the offer when Mark chose for him, extending his arms out towards Kun. 

Kun smiled, taking Mark out of Doyoung arms before walking to the door.

"Come on sweetie, let's go home."


	3. Bath time and Lunch

Doyoung typed in the passcode to the dorm room, opening the door before entering inside. Kun followed behind him with Mark riding piggyback.

"Okay, do you want me to cook, or do you want to cook?" Doyoung asked. Kun put Mark down on the ground, the younger walking away from them and going to his room.

"I'll cook, your idea of cooking is either ramen or cereal." Kun said, walking towards the kitchen.

Doyoung gasped. "I'll have you know that I can also make a sandwich!"

"Uh huh, can you go check on Mark?" Kun asked, opening the fridge and talking some ingredients out.

Doyoung huffed, but went to go do so. As he walked into the hallway, about to push Mark's door open, the door to his right opened and effectively scared him.

"What the Hell!" Doyoung shouted. 

"Oh, hey hyung." Jungwoo said, popping his head out of the door frame.

"Jungwoo? What are you doing here?" Doyoung asked, hand over his pounding heart.

"Jungwoo?" Kun and Mark called out. It was only a few seconds before both of them popped up.

"Jungwoo, it's so good to see you again!" Kun said, wrapping the younger in a hug. Jungwoo hugged back.

"Hyung!" Mark called out, bouncing on the balls of his feet with a teddy bear in his arms.

"What's up with the aegyo Mark?" Jungwoo asked with a smile once he let go of Kun. Mark pouted, looking down at his teddy bear. 

"Aigoo, you're just too cute!" Jungwoo gushed, going in to give Mark a hug and pressing his cheek to Mark's own.

Mark blushed at the comment, returning the affection his hyung was giving him.

"While this is cute and all, Mark needs to go and shower." Kun said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Jungwoo let go of the hug with a pout, Mark also wearing one before looking at Doyoung, as if waiting for his hyung to do something so he could follow.

"Come on, let's go choose some clothes to wear." Doyoung said, grabbing Mark's hand and taking him into his room.

"And you can help me with cooking lunch." Kun told Jungwoo.

Jungwoo nodded, face determined as he followed his hyung to the kitchen.

***

Doyoung poured a cup of water on top of Mark's head, soapy water cascading down Mark's back and into the tub.

At first Mark said he was going to take a shower, but when multiple thuds echoed throughout the bathroom, things clearly having fallen down, Doyoung asked if he was okay. Mark said yes, but when that happened two more times Doyoung had to get Mark out of the shower since the boy was incapable of showering without dropping something.

So he had gotten the bathtub ready, beckoning the younger to enter before he went to town on getting the now wet flour out of his hair.

It wasn't so bad and it kind of reminded him of a time he had done this with Jisung, but Mark was antsy, not staying still enough for Doyoung's liking.

"Mark, please stop splashing." Doyoung told the younger for the umpteenth time.

Mark stilled his movements for a few seconds before continuing to make waves in the bath again. 

"Mark." 

"Not splashing." 

"Yes you are, the water is going out of the tub and making my pants wet!" Doyoung told him. Mark stopped making waves, peering over the tub to see a wet floor and Doyoung's wet pants.

"See? Now can you please stop splashing the water and let me wash your hair? That's why I filled the tub for you." Doyoung said.

"Not splashing, this splashing." Mark said, raising his hand in the air before slamming it on the surface of the water.

Doyoung ducked his head, not wanting water to go on his face, but of course luck wasn't on his side. 

Taking one deep breath in and one deep breath out, Doyoung lifted his head to look Mark right in the eyes while giving him an unamused look. The smile on Mark's face fell, and it hurt Doyoung's heart to see it happen, but the young Canadian had to know that what he did wasn't very nice.

"That wasn't funny Mark." Doyoung told the boy.

Mark looked down with a pout. Instead of apologizing he watched his thumbs pop out of the water's surface before putting them back underneath.

Doyoung sighed before filling the cup with water and dumping it on Mark's head again. He continued this until the boys hair was no longer dirty or sudsy.

"All done, time to get out." Doyoung said, getting up and grabbing a towel for Mark to use.

The younger slowly got out of the tub as to not slip on the water, but Doyoung was right there when it seemed like he was about with the towel getting wrapped around him in the process.

"I should have wiped the water off of the ground first…" Doyoung mumbled, but what was done was done. Instead he turned Mark away from him and towards his clothes as a silent signal for him to get dressed. 

As Mark did that Doyoung grabbed another towel before unfolding it and dropping it to the ground. Thankfully not much of the water had spread on the ground, most of it getting soaked up by the bath mat, but he still had to clean it up.

"Hyung…" Mark called out. 

Doyoung turned around to see Mark wearing both his shirt and sweatpants on backwards. Stifling a laugh Doyoung quickly bent down to unplug the drain in the bathtub and grabbing a hand towel to dry off his hand before helping Mark fix his clothes.

The shirt was an easy fix, all he had to do was hold the boys sleeves one at a time as Mark brought his arms to his chest before turning it around. When Doyoung made no move to help him with his sweatpants Mark started to whine.

Doyoung sighed before leading Mark to the countertop, pulling down his pants about halfway before lifting him up to sit on the countertop and pulling his pants off all the way. Doyoung then put the pants on Mark the correct way, bringing them up to his knees before lifting him off, settling him on the ground and pulling his pants up all the way.

"Okay, now it's time to eat." Doyoung said, talking in deep breaths because it wasn't every day he had to pick a member up as many times as he did today. 

Not even Jaemin or Donghyuk were this needy when they got like this…

"Food?" Mark asked, tilting his head to the side.

Doyoung said nothing, just grabbed the boys hand to lead him out of the bathroom and to the kitchen were Kun and Jungwoo had just finished cooking for them.

"What took you so long? Didn't you just need to wash Mark hair?" Kun asked, setting a plate a black bean noodles on the table.

Doyoung pulled a chair out, Mark doing the same before resting his head on his shoulder.

"I did, but he kept spilling water out of the tub and...yeah, it just took me longer to wash his hair." Doyoung told Kun. The fellow vocalist nodded his head in understanding. It was always a hassle to help one of the Dreamies when they got like this.

"I think he's more well behaved than the others though. He must have just gotten antsy from sitting so still." Kun replied. Doyoung sighed, taking a sip from his water.

"What do you mean by that?" Jungwoo asked, setting down some plates on the table before sitting down. He then started to put a serving of black bean noodles on Mark's plate before putting one on his own.

"It's a long story, but to keep it short this isn't the first time me or Kun have had to take care of one hold the younger members like this." Doyoung said, stroking the side of Mark's face to wake him up.

"Lets just eat, we can talk about it later." Kun said. Jungwoo nodded his head before digging in.

"...feed me?" Mark whispered to no one.

Doyoung and Kun looked at each other, neither of them having ever had experience feeding one of the younger members when they behaved like this since most of them chose to feed themselves, some of them (ie Donghyuk and Jeno) enjoyed making messes while eating and getting told to stop would result in 'accidentaly' throwing food. So was it better to have Mark straight up tell them that he wanted to be fed?

While the two thought about what to do, Jungwoo seemed to not have a problem with putting down his chopsticks to help feed Mark his food.

"You're the absolute cutest." Jungwoo commented, pinching Mark's cheek. The younger giggled as he chewed his food and all three of the other members smiled fondly at him.

This whole ordeal may not have started out the best, but Kun and Doyoung both knew that they could make it all better. Especially with the help of Jungwoo.


	4. Baby, please apologize

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind if want to try uploading every day of this month, but I don't just want it to be for this story and Rose Quartz and Serenity I want to try writing again for Our Sunshines and Be Still My Beating Heart. 
> 
> It's been long enough and for everyone who has been waiting patiently you all deserve it.
> 
> Other than that I hope you like this chapter!

Johnny sighed as he watched Lucas drag Yangyang away from the Dreamies car and into WayV's. He could barely make out the words 'this is unfair' being said in English before Ten shot back and told him to not be a brat.

After Doyoung and Kun left with Mark a few hours ago the majority of the older members, aka all of 127 plus Ten and Lucas, thought it would be best to stay in the company building a while longer and not go home. 

They spent most of that time sitting in a circle, learning about one another, and trying to keep Donghyuk and Yangyang away from each other. There was just something about having them both together that made most of the members worry about whether or not the company building would be left standing by the end of the day.

But now as the sun was setting, even if it wasn't that late, they all made their way to the cars to be driven back to their dorms.

"Think we should have put Donghyuk in the car with us?" Taeil asked Once the car started up. Johnny shrugged his shoulders.

"Pretty sure he would have whined the entire way home about how we were being unfair." Johnny said.

"Not to mention that he would have started stomping his feet and shoving himself into our personal space like last time he got in trouble." Yuta put in. All of them voiced their agreement.

"We're in front of their car. Plus I think I saw him sitting in between Jeno and Renjun, so if he tries to make a run for it there will be enough time for one of us to get him." Jaehyun said.

"That boy is gonna be the end of one of us." Johnny said, making the members smile or chuckle.

"Or all of us." Taeyong mumbled.

***

"Donghyuk, stop putting up a fight." Johnny grunted as he made his way back to the dorm. Donghyuk of course kept struggling in the older and taller males grip.

Thankfully Johnny and Donghyuk were behind everyone else, which meant the door was wide open before the older entered the dorm. Kicking off his shoes Johnny made his way to the living room, depositing the younger onto the couch.

"Hold him and don't let him go until he calms down." Johnny said as he tried to catch his breath. Even though he worked out almost daily there was nothing in his regime that required him to carry a stubborn young adult that struggled like a cat in a bathtub.

"Got it." Yuta and Taeil said in unison. Both of them put one of their arms around the youngers torso, which thankfully made Donghyuk stop squirming because he always accepted skinship.

"Donghyuk we talked about this in the elevator." Johnny started saying, hands on his hips.

"And in the practice room." Yuta added.

"You _ need to apologize _ . I don't care that you didn't mean for your target to be Mark, the fact that you thought of dosing a member with flour and spraying them with colored water is a really rude thing. It could have been me, or Taeil hyung, or a manager if they all hadn't left to talk to the CEO about how we've all been." Johnny lectured.

Donghyuk crossed his arms over his chest and pouted, averting his eyes so he couldn't see the disappointed look on his roommates face. He had already gotten enough of those faces from everyone,  _ especially _ Taeyong hyung, that at this point he felt like he would burst out crying and start begging for forgiveness.

But he held it in because deep down he knew they were all right.

"I understand…" Donghyuk mumbled with a pout.

Johnny sighed and shook his head before leaving the living room. He was probably going to go find Doyoung and Mark to tell them what was going to happen probably an hour or so from now.

But an hour didn't pass, it was probably only ten minutes when Donghyuk felt calm enough to find Mark and apologize and an extra five was spent convincing Taeil and Yuta to let him out of the group hug.

_ He should be in his room, right? _ Donghyuk thought as he went to the last room in the hallway. Opening the door the younger noticed that no one was in, or had been in the room since this morning.

With a huff he closed the door before going to Doyoung's room.

He could hear people talking softly, which must mean that someone was in there. Knocking on the door before waiting for a response, he opened the door.

"Mark? Look I'm sor-" Donghyuk started to say but stopped when he saw what was going on in the room.

Doyoung and Mark were on the olders bed cuddling with the vocalist running his hand through the rappers hair, who was holding onto a teddy bear. Johnny was kneeling on the ground in front of the bed with his hand on Mark's face in a comforting gesture and the most surprising thing was that Jungwoo was back.

But Donghyuk couldn't focus or be bothered by that because looking at Mark's current position, how comfortable and cared for he was, made him…

It made him  _ angry _ .

"Donghyuk, don't st-" Johnny started to say when Donghyuk had started to apologize but froze when he entered.

But the younger didn't want to hear it. He was upset, and angry and sad, but overall he felt...worthless?

He wasn't too sure if that was the word to use in this situation, but it fit. It fit for the main fact that after the lecture and the disappointment it felt like they didn't need Donghyuk as the maknae for the group because they  _ obviously _ all loved Mark more than him.

He could barely get any form of affection from Johnny,  _ who was his roommate _ , but Mark gets upset once and he's on the floor, stroking his face and looking at him with such a soft and loving face that it made Donghyuk bitter.

So he slammed the door and ran out of the dorm.


	5. Calm Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's 6am were I'm at, and if you're wondering why I'm awake it's bc I need to take my meds. My ear it's getting better, but I can't hear low frequency things but I can hear, like people talking. It does sound more faraway from my right ear than my left ear, but that's okay for now since I can tell it should be a few more days until my hearing fully comes back.
> 
> Other than that, enjoy the new chapter!

Donghyuk made his way into the Dreamies dorm, kicking his shoes off and stomping all the way to the living room where the toy box full of stuffed animals was at.

He flung the top of it open and proceeded to toss each and every stuffed animal out of the way as he tried to find his very special one.

"Hyung? Are you alright?" Jisung asked as he walked into the living room. 

The older didn't say anything, not wanting to talk to anyone right now. He just really needed his teddy bear to calm down, but now as he searched for it he was really hating the fact that he had put it in the bottom of the box instead of just hiding it somewhere between the dorms.

"Do you need something?" Jisung asked, walking slowly towards his hyung.

Donghyuk put his head inside the box, stopping his tossing.

"I just want my bear…" Donghyuk whimpered out, a tear falling out of his eye. 

He quickly wiped it away, not wanting to cry in front of the maknae. Except when Jisung started to rub his back in tiny circles he couldn't help but pout, more tears starting to fall from his eyes.

"What does it look like, Hyuk?" Jisung asked. The older didn't react to the nickname and instead started to sniffle so he could talk.

"Sunflower shirt… it has a sunflower shirt." Donghyuk said, wiping away the tears with the end of his sleeve. 

Jisung nodded, scooting closer to the box to help his hyung with finding a certain stuffed animal in their toy box. Donghyuk followed the younger's example, even stopping the tossing and throwing to instead look at each stuffed animal and discern if it was his bear or not. More often than not it wasn't his bear, which made him really sad, but when Jisung said they would find it soon he couldn't help but believe him.

"What are you two doing?" Jaemin asked as he entered the living room with multiple cups in his arms.

"Looking for a teddy bear. One with a sunflower shirt." Jisung said, placing a blue penguin with a top hat and monocle on the ground.

Jaemin nodded his head, going to the kitchen sink to deposit the dirty dishes before going to help them out.

Most of the contents from the box were already out and on the ground, so it wouldn't take too long to find the bear with an extra set of hands.

Except Jaemin didn't take the same approach as the younger members, instead sticking one of his hands in the box before pulling one stuffed animal out of the box.

"My bear!" Donghyuk shouted, snatching the toy out of Jaemin's hand and bringing it to his chest.

"Wow, you're really good." Jisung said with an impressed look on his face. 

The right corner of Jaemin's mouth went up in a smile as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Yah, aren't you going to say thank you?" Jaemin teased, looking over to see Donghyuk laying on his back with his knees bent towards his stomach and his bear still in his arms.

"Thank you." Donghyuk said, voice a little muffled.

Just then the door to the dorm opened, Jaehyun and Yuta walking in. Their eyes both landed on the tanned vocalist laying on the ground before sighing.

"Donghyuk, Johnny is pretty upset about what you did back in the dorm." Jaehyun said, trying to take a calm approach to this. It was pretty hard to do so when the younger looked at him and stuck his tongue out.

" _ Donghyuk. _ " Jaehyun said, the younger's attitude starting to get on his nerves.

From the sidelines Yuta told Jaemin and Jisung to go back into their rooms. Adding in a quick 'text the others to stay in their rooms too' as he went back to assist Jaehyun if he needed it.

Donghyuk said something, possibly to them, but it was muffled by the teddy bear he had covering half of his face.

"Can you say that again?" Yuta asked as he sat on his knees, Jaehyun following. "We couldn't hear you."

"You don't need me anymore." Donghyuk said, lowering his teddy bear so it was only on his chin. "Mark would be a better maknae than me. He's not as annoying or needy as me." 

"Hyukkie, we will always need you. Not just as a member in our group, but as a friend and dongsaeng too." Yuta said, shuffling closer so he could hold the younger's hand. "Sometimes you can be a little much, but I'm sure you feel that way about your hyungs too."

Donghyuk thought about what Yuta said. He sat up, grabbed Yuta's right hand and held his teddy bear with his free hand. His eyes were downcast, but after a few seconds he looked at Jaehyun to hear what he had to say.

But Jaehyun didn't know, and he took too long to think of something to say. 

"You love Mark more than me." Donghyuk whimpered, hand tightening around Yuta's before going in to hug the japanese man.

Yuta shot Jaehyun a look, one of slight disappointment, before he started to rub the younger's back.

"Tell the members that I'll be with Donghyuk until he's ready to apologise, okay?" Yuta asked.

"Got it." Jaehyun said. He could tell that what his bandmate asked of him wasn't a request, but more of a demand. So he got up and left the dorm to allow them some time together.

"It's okay Hyukkie." Yuta said, bringing the younger closer to him. "You know you're safe with me, right?"

Donghyuk, whose tears had now turned into sniffles, shrugged his shoulders in response.

"You don't know? Why is that?" Yuta asked.

"Ma'k." Donghyuk choked out.

"Oh, you think I love him more than you?" Donghyuk nodded his head. "You're crazy Hyukkie, I love you both. And if you think you're more annoying than him I can tell you that both of you can be a little bit annoying. I'm his roommate and you know that he plays his guitar anytime he wants too. And no matter how softly he plays in the night I still can't sleep because of it. You wanna know why?"

Donghyuk shifted his head to look up at his hyung with a questioning look.

"It's because he always curses under his breath when he messes up." Yuta complained with a sigh, making Donghyuk giggle.

"Are you good now? No more tears?" Yuta asked, wiping away one of the younger's tear tracks.

"I don' know…" Donghyuk said, clinging onto Yuta.

The older nodded his head.

"Let's sit on the couch and watch tv then. My knees are hurting." Yuta said, making a pouty face as he rubbed his knees.

Donghyuk gasped as he immediately got up and sat on the couch, insistently patting the spot right next to him.

Yuta smiled, sitting where Donghyuk wanted him to be. The younger did something he never did before, which was suck his thumb. But Yuta didn't say anything about it. 

If it made him calm down quicker and get him ready to apologise to Mark, he wouldn't say a thing about it.


	6. Apology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> aka: Apples aren't always appropriate apologizes (but this one's okay)

Yuta watched from the couch as Donghyuk looked through the toy box, once again in search of a different stuffed animal. They had finished dinner not too long ago and as soon as the younger was done with his food he went to the living room and right to the box.

"You already have something lined up for your apology to Mark?" Yuta asked. Donghyuk looked up from the current stuffed animal he had in his hands, a white bunny, before putting it down and looking back in the box.

"Yeah, you kept bugging me about it earlier when we were watching tv." Donghyuk said with a grumble.

"I have to make sure you don't forget." Yuta said with a shrug.

"I'm not old like you. I won't forget that easily." Donghyuk said, pulling up a dog stuffed animal holding an apple between both its paws.

"Okay, I'm gonna go now." Donghyuk announced, standing up and going straight to the entryway. Yuta followed the younger, thankful that he was putting on his shoes before he put on his own.

"Stop following me, I can do this by myself." Donghyuk complained as they walked to the dorm.

"I have to make sure you get to the dorms and you don't run away." Yuta said, typing in the passcode to unlock the door. 

Donghyuk stepped in with a huff but didn't deny the accusation. Yuta chuckled and ruffled his hair.

"You're back." Taeil said with Sicheng right next to him, arms wrapped around his waist. Yuta gasped when he saw both of his boyfriend's together and without him.

"Are you two cuddling without me?!" Yuta asked in an exaggerated manner. Taeil shrugged with a smile and Sicheng opened his arms to invite the Japanese man in on the cuddling.

Donghyuk pretended to throw up when he saw all three of them cuddling on their shared couch. Taeil smiled, Sicheng blushed a little and Yuta snapped his fingers towards the direction of Doyoung's room.

"Go and apologize." Yuta told the younger, snuggling into Sicheng and grabbing one of Taeil's hands.

Donghyuk looked at the three with a disgusted scowl before leaving the living room and going to Doyoung's room. He knocked on the door before entering, thankful to see that it was just Doyoung and Mark.

"Where are Johnny and Jungwoo?" Donghyuk asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Doyoung asked, standing up to be face-to-face with the maknae of the group.

Donghyuk shrugged his shoulders, fiddling with the dog in his hands. Glancing to the older members bed he saw that Mark was looking at them and suddenly he felt very shy.

"Johnny went out with Jaehyun, apparently they had a date planned today. Oh, and Jungwoo's with Lucas." Doyoung replied with a sigh. 

"Ew, couples are gross." Donghyuk said, sticking his tongue out of his mouth. Mark exhaled out of his nose, and Donghyuk guessed that was his way of laughing at what he said.

"If you have nothing important to do, can you move out of the way? I need to go take a shower." Doyoung said.

Donghyuk shuffled to the side to let his hyung out of his own room. Just as the older vocalist was almost out of the room he popped back in and looked the maknae in the eyes.

"Behave yourself, got it?"

Donghyuk nodded his head. Doyoung squinted his eyes at him before leaving and closing the door behind him.

Neither Mark nor Donghyuk said anything for what seemed like an eternity. But taking a deep breath the younger walked to the bed that Mark was sitting on before placing the stuffed animal on his lap.

"What's this for?" Mark asked, picking up the puppy and looking at it from different angles.

"It's an apology gift, his name is Apple, cause you know, it's holding one." Donghyuk explained as he pointed to the stuffed animal. "Anyway, I'm really sorry for dumping flour on you and shooting you with water earlier today. Me and the Dreamies thought it would be fun to cause some chaos with all the members in one room, but we didn't think doing that would end up with you crying." Donghyuk explained, grabbing the back of his neck to let one of his hands do something. 

"Just you and the Dreamies? Then why was Yangyang a part of it?" Mark asked.

"Blame Renjun and Chenle, they texted him and let him know about it beforehand and he of course wanted to be in on it." Donghyuk told him. 

Mark shook his head, but the younger could see that the corners of his lips were a bit upwards.

"Apology accepted, but never do it again, got it?" Mark said, absentmindedly rubbing the puppy's head.

Donghyuk went in to hug his best friend, catching him off guard as they both fell to the side. They were like that for a few seconds before Mark started to shove the younger away, which Donghyuk let him do.

"Can I ask why you cried? Because if something is going on you can always talk to me about it. And if someone is bothering you or talking shit you know me and the boys will hunt them down and wish they were never born." Donghyuk said seriously. Mark laughed at the ending patting, shaking his head in disbelief, but deep down he knew that Donghyuk meant every word of it.

Mark shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not really sure. I was just feeling so overwhelmed and anxious and stressed that when I got dosed in the flour and shot with water I just couldn't hold myself together anymore. So I ended up crying and I clung to Doyoung and Kun for comfort because they didn't laugh at me when they saw how ridiculous I looked."

"Okay… guess that means I have to beat up every member and then myself." Donghyuk said seriously as he got up from the bed.

Mark grabbed the youngers wrist as he laughed. "You don't have to do that Hyuk, it's okay now. Most of the members apologized either in the group chat or they told me verbally. It's okay."

"Verbally?" Donghyuk asked.

"Yeah, some of them called me and some of them told me face-to-face." Mark said. "And now that you've apologized that means everone's apologized." Donghyuk grumbled before sitting back down on the bed.

"Fine, no one gets beat up today, but if someone is causing you problems I will not hesitate to slap a bitch. I have been going to the gym with Johnny after all." Donghyuk told him. 

Mark just laughed again at how ridiculous the younger was being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're all having a good day, but if you're not having a good day I hope things will get better for you!!


	7. What's going on?

Johnny scrolled through his old Facebook account, trying to find a friend, who somehow knew everything, from back home to ask a question to. After what had happened with Mark he wanted to know if this whole acting like a little kid thing was something other people did or if it was something he should worry about. 

Maybe it was head trauma? But he hadn't seen the young Canadian get hit by anything in the head before. Well, he has seen Mark drop his phone on his face more times than he can count, but that wouldn't warrant head trauma, right?

Finally after scrolling all the way down to his friends list he found their name. Tapping on it to make sure they still used the account he saw that the last post they uploaded was just a few days ago. Sending a quick message to them he waited for a response, only to get one in a matter of seconds.

**It's been forever! What do you want to ask?**

**yeah, it's been a while huh?**

**so, I have this friend that started to act like a child some time ago and I wanted to know if you knew anything about it.**

**they don't act like a kid all the time, it was just one time**

**Explain it a bit more pls**

**from what another friend told me, bc the 1st would only go with the 2nd, the 1st friend didn't want to let go of them, they kept sucking their thumb, didn't want to eat by themselves, etc.**

**That sounds like Little space to me.**

**what is that exactly?**

**I guess you could call it a headspace that certain people go into as a coping mechanism for all sorts of things. I'm not going to assume what your friend went through, but it must have been enough to trigger him to go into it.**

**Ah! Sorry, I didn't mean to assume their gender! You could be friends with anyone, I just always see you hanging with guys!**

**it's okay** ****

**is there a certain way of treating my friend when they're like that?**

**It's different from person to person, but just treat them like you would with a kid.**

**Although you should def talk with them about boundaries and what they want you to do.**

**thank you** ****

**I have to go to sleep now, bye**

**Goodnight**

**Tell me if things go well with your friend!**

**Will do :P**

***

"Little space?" Doyoung asked as he served himself some breakfast before sitting across Johnny.

"Yeah, you didn't know it had a name?" Johnny asked. Doyoung shook his head as he ate.

"I mean, I've handled the Dreamies acting like that before, but I never thought to question it because they  _ all _ acted like that at one point, you know?" Doyoung explained. 

"Does Kun know then?" Johnny asked. Doyoung shook his head. "Should I text him and ask?"

Doyoung shrugged his shoulders. "Do whatever you think is right hyung."

"Do what?" Taeil asked as he entered the dining room.

"Ask Kun a question." Doyoung replied, taking a sip of coffee. "Is Winwin still here?"

Taeil shook his head with a pout. "One of his managers came over to pick him up and take him to WayV's dorm."

"It's so stupid though! He's still a member of 127, so why can't he stay with us?" Yuta suddenly whined, plopping down next to Taeil who rubbed his back.

"We should go to the WayV dorm then." Johnny said suddenly, only to get his head pushed down a bit.

"And who made you leader?" Donghyuk asked, going over to the fridge and grabbing a red bull. 

"Donghyuk, don't do that, that's rude." Taeyeon scolded before going to grab himself some breakfast.

"Now we just need one more." Johnny mumbled, waiting for Mark to come out of his room.

"Don't you mean three?" Yuta asked. Johnny shook his head.

"Jaehyun already ate, he's just taking a shower. Plus Jungwoo left earlier, something about wanting to catch up with Lucas before things start to get busy for all of us." Johnny replied. Everyone at the table nodded their heads, but suddenly Yuta shot up from his seat and grabbed Taeil while he was mid bite.

"What do you think they're going to do?" Taeyong asked as he sat down.

"Probably get dressed to go take Winwin hyung on a date." Doyoung said, putting his dishes away in the sink.

From the sidelines Donghyuk pretended to throw up before leaving the kitchen and going to his room.

"Eat some actual food!" Doyoung and Taeyong shouted at the same time.

Johnny shook his head with a chuckle, taking the last sip of his coffee.

***

"Hey guys, how are you doing?" Kun asked once he opened the door to see Johnny, Jeahyun, Taeyong and Doyoung. Suddenly there were multiple screams and the sound of people running around.

"Can you give me a second?" Kun asked, a pained smile on his face before shutting the front door. There were muffled talking and shouting before things went silent and the door opened again.

"Come in." Kun said. The four 127 members looked at each other before entering.

Once they entered they saw Ten and Hendery sitting on the couch, looking away from Kun and the 127 members.

"What happened?" Doyoung asked. Kun sighed.

"The younger ones were roughhousing and then Xiaojun got hurt. Ten and Hendery started yelling at each other, but I put a stop to it." Kun explained quickly. "You mind waiting here while I go and check Xiaojun? I'll be quick."

Everyone nodded their heads, allowing Kun to go tend to one of his younger members.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ten asked, looking directly towards Johnny before looking over to Taeyong.

"We wanted to talk to Kun about this thing called Little space." Johnny replied. Ten looked at the older man with a raised eyebrow, but Hendery looked just as clueless as the other members had.

"Are you telling me you just found out about that? I would have thought you of all people would have already known about Little space." Ten said, looking over to Hendery to get some back up, but fell short when he saw the boy didn't know either.

"Really?  _ Really? _ None of you knew?" Ten asked, getting up from his seat. He made way towards the room Kun was in, only to get pushed back by Yangyang.

"Baobei, don't run!" Kun shouted, carrying Xiaojun on his hip as he exited the room.

"Kun, please tell me that you've heard of Little space." Ten pleaded. The leader looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Never heard of it, why? Should I?" Kun asked, walking over to Yangyang and putting back the bag of frozen peas the younger had grabbed to instead get the ice pack they kept in the door.

Ten clapped his hands in front of his face, taking a deep inhale with his eyes shut before exhaling and opening them.

"This is gonna be fun." Jaehyun commented under his breath before shooting a look towards his boyfriend.

"If Ten starts ranting I'm blaming you." Doyoung mumbled, looking towards Johnny as well.

_ Yeah, so much fun _ , Johnny thought. 

This may take some time.


	8. Let the Master Explain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy Valentine's day, I almost uploaded the wrong chapter to this :P

"Baobei, five minutes in the corner because you made Xiaojun get a boo-boo after we told you so many times that you shouldn't play fight. Especially on top of the beds or the couch." Ten told Yangyang, trying to guide him to a corner in the living room. Except Yangyang wouldn't budge from where he stood in the hallway.

"Not hewe." Yangyang said, looking at Ten with watery eyes before they flickered to the living room. 

Right, there were four strangers in the living room, which is where he or Kun would usually put the little ones for time out. There was no way he was going to get Yangyang in time out with them there, but he needed to be shown the repercussions of his actions.

"Gege, I can take him to an empty room for time out." Hendery offered as he got up from the couch and walked over to them. 

Ten thought about it for a moment before nodding his head. He watched as Hendery took the baby of the group into Lucas' and Sicheng's room before the door was shut closed. 

"Is it usually like this?" Jaehyun asked as Ten sat down next to Xiaojun. He noticed that the boy was playing with Kun's fingers, probably feeling shy in front of so many new people.

"Kind of. The little ones don't usually fight or get in trouble much, but it does happen at least once a month." Ten said with a shrug. Kun turned his head with a surprised look.

"What do you mean? They don't get in trouble once a month." Kun said. Ten looked away from him and Xiaojun stopped playing with the leaders fingers before turning to face Ten. Kun scoffed, not believing that all of his members could keep such a secret from him.

"While I would love to watch this drama unfold in front of us, your guests, can we just get to the point already?" Doyoung complained.

Kun took a deep breath while closing his eyes. He was happy that Doyoung had the decency to stop him from having a full blown argument in front of them.

"Tell them what you know Ten." Kun said, just as two doors, the front and bedroom, opened. In came Lucas, Jungwoo, Winwin, Taeil, and Yuta from the front, while Hendery and Yangyang came out of the bedroom.

"I don't think our apartment can handle this many people." Kun said as everyone filed in. On reflex he brought Xiaojun onto his lap to make room for more people on the couch, which ended up being Hendery and Yangyang, the younger of which sat on Ten's lap.

He watched as Taeil, Yuta and Winwin stood next to the 127 members, who were directly across from them.

"Why are you guys here?" Lucas asked as he stood next to the couch, Jungwoo right by his side.

"We're gonna be talking about Little space." Ten told the taller.

"Oh, who doesn't know about it already?" Lucas asked the room. All the 127 members, plus Kun, Winwin, and Hendery raised their hands. Lucas looked shocked by the results.

"Gege, you didn't know about Little space? But you're so natural when it comes to caring for Xiaojun and Yangyang." Lucas said to Kun.

"I've always taken care of the younger boys. And when I saw Ten handling them a certain way I let him and followed his example." Kun explained himself. Both Lucas and Ten nodded their heads. 

"Can't believe my own boyfriend never told me though…" Kun mumbled the last part, shooting Ten a small glare. The dancer gave him a hesitant smile.

"Okay, now let's stop talking about not knowing of Little space and actually  _ learn  _ about it." Doyoung complained once again.

"Go ahead hyung." Ten said as he looked towards Johnny. The older shook his head.

"I'm sure you know more than I do Ten. Plus I just learned about it last night." Johnny explained. Ten rolled his eyes before tightening his grip around Yangyang.

"Little space is a headspace where people can act carefree and childish as a way to relax from the stresses of adult life. I learned about it one day while I was scrolling through social media late at night and I fell down a rabbit hole. At first I didn't think much about it until I met these two," Ten pointed towards Yangyang and Xiaojun, "who had apparently been Little together while they were trainees."

"How did you know though?" Taeyong asked.

"I made a side comment one day to Yangyang about how he was acting like a Little and he straight up told me that he was one. After that he started coming towards me to be taken care of until he got comfortable enough to start being Little in front of the other members. With that Xiaojun followed suit because he wasn't too comfortable being Little with me. Apparently he didn't want to give me too much work, which," Ten faced Xiaojun and gave his cheek a pinch. "I have told him is a very stupid reason. I'm just happy he comes to me without holding back now."

"The reason I know about Little space is because Ten Hyung told me about it back when we started promoting as SuperM." Lucas commented, seeming to know that someone was about to ask him that question.

"Was there a reason for you to do that?" Johnny asked. He found it surprising that he told Lucas and none of the other members in his group. If one didn't know he should have had a feeling that others didn't too.

"Because I was worried that Mark and Taeyong wouldn't have a caregiver to take care of them as we were touring in the U.S." Ten explained, catching people off guard. Suddenly all eyes were on Taeyong, whose face was starting to get a little pink.

"I'm not a little." Taeyong said, voice sounding weak. Kun punched the side of Ten's arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" 

"We are now just learning about Little space, do you really think Taeyong would have known he was a Little?" Kun asked, making Ten look down in shame. "Keep some of your thoughts to yourself."

"Sorry hyung, I didn't know. It's just that I thought you knew because of how we were taking care of you back during the tour. You were so receptive when we showed you affection and you didn't mind it when we fed you." Ten apologized and explained himself. 

Taeyong shook his head. "It's okay, I can see where you're coming from… kind of."

"Okay, putting that to the side…Did you ever ask Xiaojun and Yangyang how they learned about Little space?" Jaehyun asked. Ten thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"I never bothered asking. If it's something they like to do and it,  _ usually _ , doesn't hurt anyone, then it's fine by me." Ten explained with a shrug. 

"Is there a certain way we should treat the members who might be Littles?" Johnny asked next.

"Find out what age ranges they could be and go from there. If they go into Babyspace treat them like a baby, which means diapers, bottles, pacifiers, rattles, etcetera. If they're older than that you can let them feed themselves, just always expect them to be a bit messy, let them color, play with blocks, dress-up. Just pretty much anything a kid would do, that's something they could be interested in. And they may also lose certain motor skills, so expect them to spill things or trip over their feets. And diapers just aren't for babyspace, they can also lose the ability to tell when they need to go to the bathroom either awake or asleep." Ten told them. He paused before remembering something more. "If they don't know what ages they could be just be sure to keep a close eye on them and write down certain habits they have."

Most of the 127 members nodded their heads.

"Is there anyone in your group you think could be a Little?" Kun asked, putting Xiaojun on Hendery's lap to get up and stretch.

"Mark for sure, and apparently Donghyuk too." Johnny said, remembering what Yuta had told him when he asked what happened in the Dreamies dorm.

"Good luck with that." Ten said, giving Johnny a pitying look. 

The older understood what he meant, but decided not to comment about it in fear of getting scolded by Doyoung. He knew the young vocalist was protective of the younger member at times and he was sure he would be even more protective when they were Little.

"We've lived with Donghyuk for almost four years, I'm sure we can handle Donghyuk as a Little no matter how bratty he might behave." Doyoung told the dancer, going towards the entryway to put his shoes on.

Everyone nodded their heads with some giving their thanks. The 127 members walked towards the door, with Yuta and Taeil lingering behind to give Winwin a goodbye kiss before they all left to walk back home.

"Johnny wait, come here real quick." Ten called out. Johnny stepped away from the elevator before going back to Ten.

"Yeah?" Johnny asked.

"The Littles will want to call whoever is their caregiver by some type of nickname, which will include daddy. If one of them calls you or any of the other members that, don't let toxic daddy culture make you uncomfortable by that title." Ten sternly told the older, who was starting to blush.

"Y-yeah, got it." Johnny said before waving goodbye one last time.

"When they call you that name that means they trust and love you!" Ten shouted just as the elevator door was closing.


	9. It Starts with You and Me

"Somethings on your mind." Yuta told Taeil as they cuddled on the olders bed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Taeil sighed. "I don't know, I just…"

"Just what?"

"Shouldn't we have brought Mark and Donghyuk with us? We went there to learn something about them, but they weren't there." Taeil said, seeming a bit upset. Yuta shrugged his shoulders.

"I mean, we didn't even plan to go with the others, we just ended up arriving at WayV's dorm just as Ten started to explain Little space." Yuta explained.

Taeil pouted and Yuta had the urge to kiss it away, but he held back knowing he probably wasn't in the mood right now.

"I know, but do you think Johnny has told either of them about it? Or Doyoung? Jaehyun? What about Taeyong? Would he have told them about Little space?" Taeil asked, the question being more for himself than for Yuta. The Japanese man sat up and looked at his boyfriend with a soft look he usually reserved when either he or Winwin needed reassurance.

"Then let's tell them. It's not like anyone told us we couldn't." Yuta said, caressing the olders cheek with his thumb. Taeil smiled, grabbing Yuta's hand with one of his own to give it a kiss.

"Let's text Ten so he could give us some pointers on how to tell them. I feel like if we start telling them they'll have questions we won't be able to answer aND WE NEED TO TELL THE DREAMIES TOO." Taeil said rising up from his bed as he all but shouted the last part.

Yuta chuckled, placing a hand on his lover's shoulder to slowly push him back onto the bed.

"You know what? I think you should go to sleep while I text Ten to get more info on Little space _and_ I'm gonna text Winwin so he can talk with Ten too. All three of us can then wrangle up the Dreamies while we explain to them what Little Space is and how it's a good way for them to de-stress. Does that sound good?"

Taeil nodded his head, running his hand through his hair as he exhaled for five seconds before inhaling for five.

"I'm just worried after what Johnny told us when we got back. You know, when he said that people who go into Little space usually lose certain skills like walking, talking, going to the bathroom by themselves, cooking… it gets me thinking." Taeil flipped himself so he was on his stomach instead of his back as he looked Yuta in the eyes. "What if there was a time one of the boys went into Little space by themselves? What were they able to do? What couldn't they do? Did they try cooking for themselves but ended up hungry? What if they broke something and tried to fix it? _What if they got hurt?_ I can't imagine how many tears they could have cried as they called out for one of us."

Yuta sucked in a breath. He knew Taeil cared for others, but he can't remember a time he's seen him so worried and heartbroken over all these what-ifs he was saying.

"Babe, I'm sure they had someone to take care of them when they were in Little space. I'm sure they had someone to pick up the pieces and wipe away any tears. And remember you can always ask them yourself when we go talk to them tomorrow." Yuta told Taeil before leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek. "So please just go to sleep. You're gonna need it for the chaos that's going to ensue tomorrow morning."

Taeil nodded with a yawn before laying his head on his pillow and closing his eyes. Yuta cherished the sight for a few seconds before getting up to turn off the lights.

***

"Hey Ten, I didn't expect you to be here." Yuta commented as he, Taeil, Mark and Donghyuk walked towards the Dreamies dorm. The Thai man shrugged his shoulders as Winwin walked over and hugged his boyfriend's good morning.

"You'll need all the help you can get when it comes to explaining Little space to the kids." Ten said.

Donghyuk gasped. "Excuse you, I'm not a kid, I'm twenty."

"Is that literally all you got from what he said?" Mark asked before turning towards Ten. "What's Little space and why do you need to tell us?"

Ten rolled his eyes and crossed his hands across his chest. "Does no one in this group know about Little space?"

"Let's just get into the dorm now." Taeil said, pushing Mark towards the door. The former leader typed in the passcode before entering into the dorm, the other five members following behind him.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Jeno asked once he saw everyone enter.

"I thought we banned you from the dorm Mark." Renjun said as he passed them by while holding a Moomin plush.

"Ha ha, very funny." Mark joked as he sat on the couch, Donghyuk following him before clinging to his arm. The older tried to take back his arm, but Donghyuks grip was too strong, so he let him cling to him like that.

"It wasn't his idea to come here, it was there's." Donghyuk said as he pointed to all the older members.

"Should I get the others?" Jeno asked receiving a nod from Ten and Yuta.

"How are we gonna go about this?" Taeil whispered to Ten.

"Just let me do most of the talking, I am the expert in this area." Ten replied.

Soon Jeno came back with Jaemin, Chenle and Jisung, all of whom seemed to have just woken up. They sat down either on the couch or in front of it while they waited for someone to begin talking.

"Okay guys, Yuta texted me last night because he and Taeil felt bad for leaving you out of a… meeting we had yesterday. It involved everyone in WayV and 127 except for Mark and Donghyuk." Ten said, pausing to gauge their reactions. So far none of them seemed to care. 

"I'm not sure if you've ever heard of this, considering no one besides me and three others knew of it until yesterday, there's this way of de-stressing called Little space. It's a headspace where you don't have to focus on being an adult and can instead just go mentally back to when you were a kid. When you're like that you enjoy things that kids like to do, like being taken care of, coddled, playing with dolls, toy cars, drinking out of sippy cups, wearing diapers, and a bunch of other stuff." Ten told them. He noticed that the last part started to intrigue some of them, mostly Donghyuk, Chenle and Jisung. There was also a second that Renjun seemed interested but it was soon wiped from his face.

"Do you know how it feels to be in that headspace." Jaemin asked. Ten shook his head with a smile.

"Not personally, but the members I've taken care of who are Littles have told me that when they go into headspace they feel happier, less stressed and kind of like their mind is wrapped up and protected in soft blankets." Ten explained. Jaemin nodded as he looked away.

"Oh! I almost forgot, there's a few more things about Little space. There's other things like a Caregiver or a switch. A Caregiver takes care if a Little to make sure they have an even more fun time while in headspace and a switch is someone who is both a Caregiver and Little. Also, no one is the same when it comes to Little space, everyone is different. So if you think you are a Little or a switch you don't have to fit into this cookie cutter mold of what Littles are. Just do what you want to do when you're dropped." Ten told them, pausing to let the new information sink in.

"I think… I think I do that." Jisung whispered, bringing his knees to his chest. Ten walked over to the maknae before petting his hair.

"That's okay if you do. As long as it makes you happy and no one gets hurt you can keep using Little space." Ten said, placing a kiss on the top of his head.

"I want to be babied." Donghyuk said from the couch. 

Ten turned his head towards the vocalist before laughing a little. The glare Donghyuk was giving him didn't have its usual venom to it and instead looked very cute.

"I need to tell you all one more thing before I can do that, okay?" Ten asked. Donghyuk huffed but nodded his head. "Last important thing is nicknames for Littles and Caregivers. For Littles it could be baby, prince, princess, sweetie, or a shortened version of their name. And for Caregivers it can also be a shortened version of their name, Mama, Mommy, Dada, Daddy, whatever you want to call them. And remember to not feel pressured to give them a nickname because it's your choice and decision."

"Wow, you never told us that last part." Yuta commented under his breath, making Taeil and Winwin elbow him. "It's true though."

"This is for them, not us." Winwin whispered. 

Yuta nodded with a pout on his face before looking back at Ten and the Dreamies. The young boys seemed to be taking this new information quite well if the lack of shouting meant anything to go by, so Yuta thought that this was a success.

He watched with amusement as Donghyuk clung to Ten and Jaemin picked up Jisung to have him nuzzle against his neck. Chenle, who had been silent the whole time, started to tickle Jisung with some help from Jaemin, causing the maknae to squeal in laughter.

It made not only Yuta's heart swell in happiness, but Taeil and Winwin's too. If this was going to be the new norm for all of them, then they were pretty happy about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna be re-decorating my room + repainting furntiure and with how long it took me to take off the old paint from my bed frame it's going to take a while to paint it.  
> So I won't be updating for a couple of days, but considering I've been uploading 18 times in the past 18 days I think I can take a few days off.


	10. Chapter 10

Mark felt so…  _ floaty _ once Ten had finished explaining Little space to him and the Dreamies. He was trying to internally process everything that had just happened in such a short span of time but he couldn't think of a single thing.

His mind was just blank. Not to mention the fact that it felt like he was having an out of body experience.

"You okay Mark?" Winwin asked, pushing the younger into Renjun's bedroom before shutting the door. Mark blinked a couple of times while shaking his head, as if he was trying to get back to the present.

"Wha- When did we get in here?" Mark asked as he looked around the room. Once he looked to his left he spotted Ten sitting right next to him, making him jump in his spot.

Ten pressed his lips together to spot from smiling or laughing at the younger, not wanting to make him feel bad before talking to him.

" _ You were really out of it, Mark. What's up?"  _ Ten asked the younger in English. The Canadian flicked his eyes from to Ten to Winwin, his eyebrows furrowing in concern. He didn't want to exclude Winwin from this conversation.

"It's okay, you two talk." Winwin said as he smiled softly to him. Mark nodded his head stifly.

" _ You had the same expression on your face as Hendery did. You know Hendery, right? _ "

Mark nodded his head, not knowing where this was going or why he was being told this.

" _ Long story short, the two youngest in  _ _ my _ _ group are Littles. I was apparently the only one who knew for the longest time before telling the rest of my members about it just yesterday, along with the older members of 127. But way before that everyone acted as if they knew about it! It's not my fault for not telling them sooner! _ " Ten ranted and now Mark was even more confused. 

Seeing the confused look on Mark's face, Ten deeply inhaled before exhaling.

" _ Hendery was a trainee with Xioajun and Yangyang before debut. Those two told each other about being Little, but never told Hendery. So when he found out along with the rest of my members, minus Lucas, he… wasn't okay? He isn't okay about it, considering he was just told a big part of his friends life that he was never told about, he's going through the motions. He's upset, he's sad and a bit confused, but he's trying to understand. He just needs more than a few hours to understand."  _ Ten said, his voice quieting a bit at the end. " _ Kun wasn't too happy that I left, but I know the boys are mature enough to talk this out without me there. Hendery also doesn't need me making up excuses for them. _ "

Mark nodded his head once again, trying to connect what Ten told him, to being brought into this room. But once again his mind was like a blank slate.

" _ I don't get why you told me this, hyung." _ Mark finally confessed after a few seconds.

" _ Do you not like the fact that you're Little? Does it make you feel weird? _ " Ten asked, catching Mark by surprise.

" _ I-I… I uh I don't know what you mean. I'm not Little, wouldn't I know if I was? _ " Mark asked, somehow feeling cornered by the question.

" _ Okay, let me ask you this. Do you like getting babied by your members, even the Dreamies? Do you like being taken care of by someone, like, I don't know, Doyoung or Johnny or Kun? Maybe Jungwoo? _ " Ten asked. Marks eyes widened.

" _ How do yo- _ "

" _ I know everything Mark. _ " Ten said so matter a factly that it left no room for Mark to question him.

" _ Yeah, I… I really liked it when Doyoung and Kun took care of me… I liked it when Doyoungie washed my hair and when Jungwooie fed me Kun's yummy food. _ " Mark said, looking down as he twiddled his thumbs.

He remembered the day fondly and how he felt so loved and cared for when it was just him and three of his hyungs. Everything about the day he had spent with Kun, Doyoung and Jungwoo had been one of the most relaxing days he had spent in  _ such  _ a long time that he started to imagine what else the three could do together. They could watch movies, play video games, maybe go out and buy some sweets! 

It sounded like a dream Mark wanted to live through right now. 

But he was sure that his hyungs were busy right now, and if they did have any free time they wouldn't want to spend it taking care of him like a baby.

" _ Mark? Do you want me to go get someone? _ " Ten asked, taking Mark out of his thoughts. Mark pressed his lips together, debating if he did want someone else with him.

"I wan… I wan Doyoungie hyung… please." Mark mumbled, feeling his lip wobble and his eyes tear up.

Ten scooted closer to Mark so he could hug him, letting the younger curl into him. From the corner of his eye Ten could see Winwin leave the room to most likely get the vocalist, which made him very grateful.

"Don't worry Mark, Doyoung will be here soon." Ten mumbled into the top of Mark's head. He felt the younger nod his head once in confirmation before grubbing Ten a bit tighter.

"And remember this Mark, your members care about you no matter what, okay? They will  _ always _ care and love everything about you." Ten said, tightening his hold on Mark too.

He wasn't sure what Mark could be thinking right now, but he had a feeling that what he said was what he needed at that moment.

**Author's Note:**

> The majority of this chapter is filler, and I'm sorry about that but it was the only way to make sure this didn't drag on for multiple chapters and I could get to the group dynamic quicker.
> 
> Next chapter is probably going to be uploaded within the next few hours or most likely tomorrow.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this!


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